Apple Music now has 40 million subscribers

According to an exclusive report recently published this week by Variety, Apple Music has now reached a total number of 40 million subscribers. Could Apple’s music streaming subscription service catch up to industry leader Spotify? Maybe not soon, considering that Spotify currently enjoys a subscriber base of about 70 million Premium customers (as of January of this year), and is continuing to offer interesting deals.

But a number of industry watchers are already starting to notice Apple Music’s remarkable trajectory. More than a couple of months ago, the Wall Street Journal had reported that Apple Music’s growth rate of five percent is significantly faster compared to Spotify’s two percent. If this momentum keeps up, it is possible that Apple Music could overtake Spotify in three or four months’ time. Last month, Eddy Cue, the senior vice president of Apple’s Internet software and services, had confirmed at the annual South by Southwest Conference and Festivals (more popularly known as the SXSW Fest) that Apple Music had already amassed 38 million subscribers. In a span of just four weeks, that number has increased by a couple of million subscribers.

Variety’s exclusive report also made mention of the fact that there is a new vice president of Apple Music & International Content -- Oliver Schusser. Reporting directly to Cue, Schusser has been with Apple for more than a dozen years now, and he has had extensive experience when it comes to managing content related to the App Store for mobile markets outside the United States. Now he will put his skills to use in overseeing content for Apple Music for international customers.

It has not always been smooth sailing for the Apple Music brand. Just a few months after it made its debut back in June of 2015, it had to go through some interface related issues. This should not be too surprising, considering that Apple Music was at that time a newcomer that had to learn the ropes fast in order to start competing with Spotify, which had the advantage of several years of experience in streamlining its overall user interface.

But one can argue that in just a couple of years, Apple Music has managed to be a legitimate contender to Spotify’s dominance. Still, it will be challenging to oust the industry leader from its throne. Last month, Spotify had gone public with a rather high market cap of $28 billion, which suggests it is confident it can remain the top brand to beat in the ever popular music streaming business.